Device for wrapping block-like articles

ABSTRACT

A device for wrapping block-like articles in sheets of wrapper material is disclosed. The device comprises a first revolver provided with a plurality of cell defining means each adapted to receive one such article, a second revolver provided with a plurality of cell defining means each adapted to receive a web of such wrapper material of channel section, the revolvers being so rotatable stepwise about respective axes of rotation that the revolvers come to rest at successive orientations such that one cell defining means of the second revolver is in alignment with one cell defining means of the first revolver in a direction parallel to the rotational axes of the respective revolvers, the mutually aligned cell defining means then being situated next adjacent mutually opposite ends of guide means comprising a plurality of guide members arranged to define a guide channel therebetween. A pusher member is mounted to be displaceable along a feed path extending through said one cell defining means of the first revolver and through the guide channel. A portion of the pusher member extends through and is displaced along a slot defined in one of the guide members during traverse by the pusher member of a portion of the feed path. During a forward stroke of the pusher member, the pusher member displaces one such article from said one cell defining means of the first revolver through the guide channel into the channel defined by the wrapper material in said one cell defining means of the second revolver. During a return stroke of the pusher member, the latter is retracted towards its initial position in such a manner as to traverse at least that portion of the feed path extending through the guide channel.

United States Patent Schmermund [5 DEVICE FOR WRAPPING BLOCK-LIKE ARTICLES [76] Inventor: Alfred Schmermund, 62

Kornerstrasse, 5820 Gevelsberg, Germany [22] Filed: Dec. 26, 1973 [21] App]. No.: 427,436

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. ll, 1973 United Kingdom 1551/73 [52] U.S. Cl. .Q 53/234; 53/253; 53/258 [51] Int. Cl. B65B 11/28 [58] Field of Search 53/148, 225, 234, 236, 53/252, 253, 258

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,642,894 9/1927 Rober 53/252 X 1,870,533 8/1932 Scott.... 53/148 X 2,092,786 9/l937 Taylor 53/252 3,190,459 6/1965 Kochalski 53/236 X 3,301,375 l/l967 Schmermund 53/[48 X 3,448,846 6/1969 Bardenhagen 53/236 X 3,545,l72 12/1970 Osterdahl 53/236 X 3,608,270 9/l97l Rudszinat 53/234 X 3,735,767 5/l973 Kruse 53/236 X Primary Examiner--Travis S. McGehee Assistant Examiner-John Sipos Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn 8L Macpeak [57] ABSTRACT A device for wrapping block-like articles in sheets of wrapper material is disclosed. The device comprises a first revolver provided with a plurality of cell defining means each adapted to receive one such article, a second revolver provided with a plurality of cell defining means each adapted to receive a web of such wrapper material of channel section, the revolvers being so rotatable stepwise about respective axes of rotation that the revolvers come to rest at successive orientations such that one cell defining means of the second revolver is in alignment withone cell defining means of the first revolver in a direction parallel to the rotational axes of the respective revolvers, the mutually aligned cell defining means then being situated next adjacent mutually opposite ends of guide means comprising a plurality of guide members arranged to define a guide channel therebetween. A pusher member is mounted to be displaceabile along a feed path extending through said one cell defining means of the first revolver and through the guide channel. A portion of the pusher member extends through and is displaced along a slot defined in one of the guide members during traverse by the pusher member of a portion of the feed path. During a forward stroke of the pusher member, the pusher member displaces one such article from said one cell defining means of the first revolver through the guide channel into the channel defined by the wrapper material in said one cell defining means of the second revolver. During a return stroke of the pusher member, the latter is retracted towards its initial position in such a manner as to traverse at least that portion of the feed path extending through the guide channel.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures Oct. 7, 1975.

U.S. Patent Oct. 7,1975 Sheet 1 of 2 3,910,012

fiw NNm mom 9Q a Q fiq J v m\ l1?! I I! b n L m q i. w H w I .I N M u N T H ILL. 8m mw mm mm I3 E m wW/U wom m mm 8w US. Patent Oct. 7,1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,910,012

DEVICE FOR WRAPPING BLOCK-LIKE ARTICLES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device for wrapping block-like articles.

In US. patent application Ser. No. 403,732 there is disclosed a machine for packaging block-like articles, such as cigarette blocks, successively in two layers of wrapping material, the two individual layers being applied successively in respective revolvers. The present invention concerns an improvement in, or modification of, the invention disclosed in that co-pending patent application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a device for wrapping block-like articles in sheets of wrapper material, comprising a first revolver provided with a plurality of cell defining means each adapted to receive one such article, a second revolver provided with a plurality of cell defining means each adapted to receive a web of such wrapper material of channel section, the revolvers being so rotatable stepwise about respective axes of rotation that the revolvers come to rest at successive orientations such that one cell defining means of the second revolver is in alignment with one cell defining means of the first revolver in a direction parallel to the rotational axes of the respective revolvers, the mutually aligned cell defining means then being situated next adjacent mutually opposite ends of guide means comprising a plurality of guide members arranged to define a guide channel therebetween, a pusher member mounted to be displaceable along a feed path extending through said one cell defining means of the first revolver and through the guide channel, a portion of the pusher member to extend through and to be displaced along a slot defined in one of the guide members during traverse by the pusher member of a portion of the feed path, the arrangement being such that during a forward stroke of the pusher member in use of the device the pusher member displaces one such article from said one cell defining means of the first revolver through the guide channel into the channel defined by the wrapper material in said one cell defining means of the second revolver and that during a return stroke of the pusher member the latter is retracted towards its initial position in such a manner as to traverse at least that portion of the feed path extending through the guide channel.

Preferably, the guide channel is of generally rectangular crosssection in a plane perpendicular to the axes of rotation of the revolvers, the guide channel being bounded at a side thereof remote from the second axis of rotation by a rigid guide member and at each of the other three sides by guide members which are each mounted to be resiliently yieldable in a direction outward of the feed path.

Expediently, there is provided further displacing means to reciprocatably displace the guide means along the portion of the feed path extending between the revolvers, the guide members of the guide means being adapted to enter said one cell of the second revolver when the guide means is displaced towards the second revolver, thereby to provide positive guiding of such an article when the latter passes into said one cell of the second revolver.

Advantageously, the drive means and the first mentioned displacing means are so co'ordinated that, during return stroke displacement, the pusher member passes between two successive cell defining means of the first revolver. In this arrangement, the return stroke of the pusher member may take place while the first revolver is rotating.

An arrangement, in which one of the guide members of the guide means is rigid and three other guide members areresiliently yieldable in a direction outward of the feed path through the mouthpiece member may be found to be particularly advantageous, since thereby the rigid guide member is positioned where the web of packaging material remains open and not supported by any wall of the cell. The guide members are advanced into the appropriate cell when the cell is stationary, and must be retracted from the cell before the revolver is actuated to carry out a further (for example step of rotation.

A convenient arrangement is one in which the revolvers are mutually staggered in a direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation of each of the revolvers, in this case the radially outer side of a block-like article in the first revolver becoming the radially inner side of the same article after its introduction into the second revolver. This arrangement may be found to be advantageous where a block-like article wrapped in a first web of material is transferred to a further revolver to be supplied with a second web of material surrounding the first. Such an arrangement is described in US. patent application Ser. no. 403,732.

The yieldable guide member opposite the rigid guide member may conveniently be divided into two parts, the slot extending between the two parts.

While it is not essential that the cells and the guide means be constructed so as to have a precisely rectangular cross-section in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of each of the revolvers, a rectangular arrangement is more convenient in construction and operation.

Guide means may be provided between revolvers I and II or between revolvers II and III of the machine de scribed in US. patent application Ser. No. 403,732, or, if desired, in both of those positions.

Four is a particularly convenient number of cell defining means to provide on each revolver, but in principle any multiple of four cell defining means would provide a workable arrangement However, in practice it may well be found that if each revolver is provided with twelve, sixteen or more cells then the revolver becomes too cumbersome and unwieldy for efficient operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described with referencc to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a partial front elevation, partly in section, of a wrapping device provided with three revolvers;

FIG. 2 shows a partial sectional view looking to the right in FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 3 shows a partial plan view of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic representation looking in the same direction as FIG. 2, showing various successive positions of the cells of a revolver;

FIG. 5 shows diagrammatically the paths followed by -DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1, there are shown at 20, 21 and 22 respectively, individual cell defining means of the first, second and third revolvers of the machine shown in the drawing of US. patent application Ser. No. 403,732. In the drawing accompanying that application, these revolvers are numbered I, II and Ill respectively. Two guide means in the form of mouthpiece members 16 and 17 are shown in FIG. 1, and these are staggered relatively to one another and are therefore not located in the same plane. The cell defining means 20 carries the reference letter d, to indicate that the cell in reaching the shown position has moved forward three stations from the position in which the cell defining means points upward. Each of the cell defining means defines a cell of which the radially outer surface is open. The cell 21 carries the reference letter b, to indicate that the cell has moved forward only one, station from the equivalent upwardly pointing position. The cell 22, also carrying reference letter b, is in alignment, in a direction parallel to the axes of rotation of the revolvers, with the cell d (not shown) of the revolver carrying the cell 21, although this is not entirely clear from FIG. 1. Reference numeral 70 indicates a folding member of the kind more fully described in US. patent application Ser. No. 411,875. The guide means in the form of the mouthpiece members 16 and 17 are carried by actuating rods 69-1 and 69-2 (FIG. 1) arranged to reciprocate the respective mouthpiece members in a direction parallel to the axes of rotation. The mouthpiece members each define a guide channel passing therethrough and bounded by resiliently yieldable guide members 501, 502, 503 and 504, which can be caused to yield outwardly of the feed path by a cigarette block passing along the feed path. A rigid guide member 509 is shown in FIG. and this is situated on the side of the generally rectangular mouthpiece member remote from the axis of rotation of the revolver ll shown in FIG. 3. The guide member 509, being rigid, is arranged to act as a positive guide for the cigarette blocks as they pass through the guide channel defined by the mouthpiece member into the cell of the second revolver, this being particularly important since the web of wrapping material is open at this position and cannot therefore give positive support to the cigarette block, which might therefore otherwise fall apart. A pusher member is shown at 13, the pusher member being shown in its two extreme end positions 13a and 13b in FIG. 3, the pusher member 13 being reciprocable in a direction parallel to the axes of rotation of the revolvers (left and right in FIG. 3). During the forward stroke of the reciprocation of the pusher member 13, the member travels from position 13a to 13b, and during the return stroke the member travels in the reverse direction. Numeral 516 in FIG. 3 denotes a part of the pusher member in the form of a carrier arm attached to the actuating rod 77. Inner parts of the mouthpiece member are shown at 506 and 507 in FIG. 1, and the mouthpiece members are provided with slots 515, between portions of resiliently yieldable guide members 503 and 504, extending in a direction parallel to the axes of rotation of the revolvers. A plate member forming part of the revolver I is shown at 213 in FIG. 3.

In operation of the device, the sequence of steps may be precisely that described in US. patent application Ser. No. 403,732, and this will not nowbe described in detail. However, the operation of the components which transfer cigarette blocks from one revolver to another will be described.

When a cell 20 or revolver 1 reaches position d shown in FIG. 1, the pusher member 13 isadvanced from position 13a to pass through the cell 20 and to push a cigarette block in cell 20 through the feed path between the guide members of the mouthpiece member 16 into cell 21 at position b ofrevolver II, after the mouthpiece member 16 has been advanced to project into cell 21. Such advance is not shown in FIG. 1 at the position of mouthpiece member 16, but is shown in the case of mouthpiece member 17. During the advancing of the pusher member 13, all the cells of the revolvers are of course stationary. The pusher member 13 advances to such an extent that the arm 516 is completely clear of the cell, having entered the slot 515 in the mouthpiece member 16. This frees the cell 20 to commence its stepwise rotation to the next position, during which the pusher member is retracted to the initial rear position 13a. The pusher member thus passes between successive cells of the revolver during its return stroke. Prior to the rotation of the revolver, the mouthpiece member is of course retracted away from the adjacent cell of the second revolver, so that this revolver is also freed for the 90 step of rotation, which takes place simultaneously with that of the first revolver. The retraction of the mouthpiece member takes place together with the initial part of the retraction of the pusher member. The new cell arriving at position d of the first revolver is subjected to the same treatment as that which was preyiously located at that position.

If desired, when the cigarette block has executed about half the distance from one revolver cell to the other cell in alignment therewith, lateral folding may be commenced in the manner described in US. patent ap plication Ser. No, 422,484. The folding means for carrying out such lateral folding are not, however, shown in the drawing of the present application.

The sequence of movements of the pusher member and the cells of the revolvers are diagrammatically shown in FIG. 5, which carries symbols referring to FIG. 4 showing a number of individual positions for the revolver cells. In the graph shown in FIG. 5, the solid line represents the movement of the pusher member, and the broken line represents the movement of the revolver cells. The horizontal axis of the graph represents time, while the vertical axis represents distance of movement. A control shaft (not shown) is so arranged that for of its rotation the revolver is standing still and for the other 180 the revolver is rotating. This enables the movement of the pusher member also to be controlled in relatively simple manner.

Referring to the graph in FIG. 5, at the point G of the graph the distance 517 (FIG. 3) has been traversed in the direction towards the left in FIG. 3, and the revolver stands still (represented by point F on the graph). When the forward stroke of the pusher member has been completed, the pusher member has travelled right through the cell of the revolver. The point at which the pusher member leaves the revolver cell is represented by point H on the graph. Point A indicates the commencement of a 90 step of rotation of the re volver. When the revolver cell reaches the position B (see FIG. 4), the pusher member has moved back through the distance 532, which is smaller than the distance 514 (FIG. 3). Subsequently, the revolver cell reaches position C, by which time the pusher member 13 has travelled back by the distance 522 (FIG. 3). As shown by FIG. 4, when the revolver cell occupies posi tion C of the pusher member 13 is free to pass through the space between the revolver cell and the next following cell of the same revolver, while the revolver contin ues to rotate. Point L on the graph represents the condition in which the forward edge of the pusher member 13 occupies the same axial position as the rear edge of the cell (i.e. the edge of the cell to the right in FIG. 3). In this condition the following revolver cell is situated in position D (FIGS. 4 and 5), so that it is clear that the pusher member 13 has traversed the space between two successive cells without contacting the cells, during the return stroke of the pusher member. The portion of the graph indicated by numeral 525 represents the return stroke of the pusher member, and the portion indicated at 526 represents the forward stroke of the pusher member. Numeral 527 indicates the broken line curve of the revolver motion. A twin drive Maltese Cross arrangement may be employed so to drive each revolver that for every revolution of the control shaft the revolver carries out two separate 90 steps of rotation with intermediate dwell periods, the length of time taken by each of the steps of rotation being equal to that of each ofthe dwell periods. The length of time indicated at 530 is the time of the forward stroke of the pusher member, and the time represented by 531 is the time of the return stroke of the pusher member. The time taken by the pusher member to traverse the revolver cell is indicated at 518. The time of over-running of the revolver cell by the pusher member at the end of a return stroke of the pusher member and the beginning of a forward stroke is indicated at 519, and the corresponding time at the end of a forward stroke and the beginning of a return stroke is indicated at 520. Numeral 528 indicates the length of time taken by the revolver to execute one 90 step of rotation.

In FIG. 4 there is indicated at 534 a circle having a particular radius which corresponds to the distance from cell to cell. This distance may, if desired, in practice be for example 18 centimeters. The distances trav elled by the revolver, for example 521, 523 and 533 can be measured along the circle having its circumference indicated at 534 and compared with the distances moved by the pusher member in the same time, as shown on the graph of FIG. 5.

The above described arrangement with the slot 515 in the mouthpiece member 16 or 17 is utilised to enable the axial spacings between successive revolvers to be kept small, so that the distances travelled by the pusher members may be correspondingly reduced. The portions of the pusher members which enter the slots 515 are the arm portions 516.

The rigid guide member 509 may, if desired, be utilised as a supplementary guide member for the folding operation which takes place on the lobes of packaging material projecting radially outwardly of the revolver cell. In such a case, it may be desirable to construct the guide member 509 to be trapezoidal in cross-section in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation, or to have two very short mutually opposite sides connected on the one hand by a single straight side and on the other by a pair of straight sides to give a roof shape. This arrangement 'is shown in FIG. 6. i

It is generally desirable to make the guide member 509 of very thin material, but the member must also be rigid, as described above. A convenientthickness for the member is' l millimeter or 2 millimeters, the shape shown in FIG. 6 being particularly suitable in the case of a thickness of 2 millimeters. If it is found that the fold is not held sufficiently tightly in place, this may be rectified upon the retraction of the mouthpiece memher from the revolver cell. Generally speaking, thin material is better than thick material for the construction of the member 509. Thus a thickness of 1 millimeter may be prefered, or even a thickness of 0.5 millimeter. The pusher member 13 should of course be accurately constructed in relation to the dimensions of the revolver cell in each case. This may be important in the case of the introduction of the cigarette block into the inner wrapper. In this case the pusher member 13-enters the neck or collar formed by the inner wrapper material projecting axially towards the cigarette block as it enters the revolver cell. The distance involved may, with a twenty cigarette block, be fdr'xam ple 18 millimeters. To save time, the arm SII S o'f the pusher member 13 should not be albwedtb'travltdo far, since the empty revolver cell 20 has to be rotated and the pusher member 13 is retracted between the empty and following full cell. For performance reasons, the movement of the pusher member should involve forward and rearward travel with minimum intermediate dwell. This may be achieved for example by using crank driven oscillating levers in the drive for the pusher member. The movements of these; levers need have no dwell periods.

In view of the above considerations, the part of the pusher member 13, 516 which penetrates into the collar or neck as described above is restricted to the dimension 512, and the carrying part or arm to the dimension 513 (FIG. 3). There is thus available the distance represented by numeral 514 in FIG. 3 for retrac tion purposes, up to the revolver cell 21 or 22. Full de tails of the travel of the pusher member through the region occupied by a revolver are evident from FIGS. 4 and 5, as above described.

The particular dimensions given above may be employed in the case of the packaging of king-size cigarettes (100 millimeters long). The efficiency of operation may, however, be found to be even greater in the case of shorter cigarettes, for example ones which are millimeters long, since in such a case the cells may be constructed smaller, but having their centers correspondingly positioned.

In FIGS. 1 and 3, lines indicating the central planes through the cells in a direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the revolvers are shown.

I claim:

1. A device for wrapping block-like articles in wrapping material comprising in combination:

a frame;

a first revolver mounted on said frame to be rotatable about a first axis of rotation;

a plurality of first cell defining means provided on said first revolver, each said first cell being adapted to receive one said article;

a second revolver mounted on said frame to be rotatable about a second axis of rotation parallel to said first axis;

a plurality'of second cell defining means provided on said second revolver, each said second cell being adapted to receive a web of wrapper material of channel section;

first support means secured to said frame to define a first fixed slideway extending parallel to said first and second axes;

guide means mounted on said first support means to extend between said revolvers and to be reciprocatably displaceable along said first slideway, said guide means comprising a plurality of guide mem bers arranged to define a guide channel therebetween, said guide channel being of generally rectangular cross-section in a plane perpendicular to said axes of rotation of said revolvers, said guide channel being bounded at a side thereof remote from said second axis of rotation by a rigid guide member and at each of the other three sides by guide members which are each mounted to be resiliently yieldable in a direction outward of said guide channel, one of said guide members having a slot defined therein to extend parallel to said axes of rotation;

drive means to impart such stepwise rotational movement to said first and second revolvers that the latter come to rest at successive orientations in which one cell of said second revolver is in alignment with one cell of said first revolver in a direction parallel to said axes of rotation, said aligned cells then being situated next adjacent mutually opposite ends of said guide means;

second support means to said frame to define a second fixed slideway extending parallel to said first and second axes;

a pusher member slidably mounted on said second slideway and having a portion projecting into a feed path extending through said one cell in said first revolver and through said guide channel, said projecting portion being adapted to extend through an opening in a radially outer wall of said one cell in said first revolver and being adapted to extend through said slot;

displacing means to cause said pusher member to execute reciprocal stroke displacements along said second slideway, said block-like article being displaced during a forward stroke displacement of said pusher member from said one cell of said first revolver through said guide channel and into a channel defined by said wrapper material in said one cell of said second revolver, said pusher member during said forward stroke displacement being displaced to a position in which said first revolver is freed for said stepwise rotational movement under the control of said drive means, said drive means and said displacing means being so coordinated that during a return stroke displacement of said pusher member said pusher member passes between two successive cell defining means of said first revolver whilst the latter is being rotationally displaced by said drive means; and

further displacing means to reciprocatably displace said guide means along said first slideway to cause said guide means to traverse a portion of said feed path extending between said revolvers, the guide members of said guide means being adapted to enter said one cell of said second revolver when the guide means is displaced towards said second revolver, thereby to provide positive guiding of said article when the latter passes into said one cell of said second revolver. 

1. A device for wrapping block-like articles in wrapping material comprising in combination: a frame; a first revolver mounted on said frame to be rotatable about a first axis of rotation; a plurality of first cell defining means provided on said first revolver, each said first cell being adapted to receive one said article; a second revolver mounted on said frame to be rotatable about a second axis of rotation parallel to said first axis; a plurality of second cell defining means provided on said second revolver, each said second cell being adapted to receive a web of wrapper material of channel section; first support means secured to said frame to define a first fixed slideway extending parallel to said first and second axes; guide means mounted on said first support means to extend between said revolvers and to be reciprocatably displaceable along said first slideway, said guide means comprising a plurality of guide members arranged to define a guide channel therebetween, said guide channel being of generally rectangular cross-section in a plane perpendicular to said axes of rotation of said revolvers, said guide channel being bounded at a side thereof remote from said second axis of rotation by a rigid guide member and at each of the other three sides by guidE members which are each mounted to be resiliently yieldable in a direction outward of said guide channel, one of said guide members having a slot defined therein to extend parallel to said axes of rotation; drive means to impart such stepwise rotational movement to said first and second revolvers that the latter come to rest at successive orientations in which one cell of said second revolver is in alignment with one cell of said first revolver in a direction parallel to said axes of rotation, said aligned cells then being situated next adjacent mutually opposite ends of said guide means; second support means to said frame to define a second fixed slideway extending parallel to said first and second axes; a pusher member slidably mounted on said second slideway and having a portion projecting into a feed path extending through said one cell in said first revolver and through said guide channel, said projecting portion being adapted to extend through an opening in a radially outer wall of said one cell in said first revolver and being adapted to extend through said slot; displacing means to cause said pusher member to execute reciprocal stroke displacements along said second slideway, said block-like article being displaced - during a forward stroke displacement of said pusher member - from said one cell of said first revolver through said guide channel and into a channel defined by said wrapper material in said one cell of said second revolver, said pusher member - during said forward stroke displacement - being displaced to a position in which said first revolver is freed for said stepwise rotational movement under the control of said drive means, said drive means and said displacing means being so co-ordinated that during a return stroke displacement of said pusher member said pusher member passes between two successive cell defining means of said first revolver whilst the latter is being rotationally displaced by said drive means; and further displacing means to reciprocatably displace said guide means along said first slideway to cause said guide means to traverse a portion of said feed path extending between said revolvers, the guide members of said guide means being adapted to enter said one cell of said second revolver when the guide means is displaced towards said second revolver, thereby to provide positive guiding of said article when the latter passes into said one cell of said second revolver. 